New Dietary Guidelines Challenge Obese Americans

MARCH 01, 2005

Susan Farley

The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) recently
announced the release of
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, a
research-based booklet advising the
American public on healthful eating
and exercise strategies. This edition
emphasizes calorie reduction and exercise
and offers some of the strongest
dietary guidelines to date. With two
thirds of the American population
overweight or obese and over half the
population not getting enough physical
activity, attention to the new
revised guidelines is necessary to spark
lifestyle changes for unhealthy Americans.

According to HHS Secretary Tommy
Thompson, "These new dietary guidelines
represent our best science-based
advice to help Americans live healthier
and longer lives. Promoting good
dietary habits is key to reducing the
growing problems of obesity and physical
inactivity and to gaining the
health benefits that come from a nutritionally
balanced diet."The federal
government uses these dietary guidelines
for planning school lunch menus
and other programs.

The new guidelines highlight 41 recommendations23 for the general
population and 18 for special populationsgrouped into 9 areas: adequate
nutrients within calorie needs, weight
management, physical activity, food
groups to encourage, fats, carbohydrates,
sodium and potassium, alcoholic
beverages, and food safety. The advice
ranges from the obvious"To prevent
gradual weight gain over time, make
small decreases in food and beverages
calories and increase physical activity"to the specific"Consume less than
2300 mg (approximately 1 teaspoon of
salt) of sodium per day."

These dietary guidelines do not necessarily
offer any new advice on healthful
eating habits. Rather, they reinforce
what many Americans already know: eat
nutritious foods; limit bad fats, cholesterol,
sugar, salt, and alcohol; and get
more exercise. These guidelines eschew
the advice of fad diets, such as cutting
out all carbohydrates or fats, in favor of
promoting a balanced diet. Business and
industry groups have already taken issue
with some of the recommendations limiting
sugar and enriched grains.

The most challenging recommendations
concern exercise. The guidelines
advise everyone to get a minimum of
30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise
every day, which would include a brisk
walk or bike. Those trying to lose
weight will need to exercise more
intensely for 60 to 90 minutes each
day. Many Americans will be wondering
how they can fit additional exercise
time into already hectic schedules.

Critics of the guidelines compare the
lengthy recommendations in the current
guide to the succinct and easier-to-understand recommendations of
earlier versions. However, the revised
guidelines include a different form of
measurement designed to make life
easier for Americansinstead of the
nebulous "serving size,"these guidelines
are based on common household
measurements such as cups and
ounces. For example, in a 2000-calorie/
day diet, people are encouraged
to consume 4 1/2 cups of fruits and
vegetables and 3 cups of fat-free
or low-fat milk or a similar dairy
product.

Director of the Center for Weight
Management at the University of Texas
Medical Branch, Dr. Russell LaForte
explained that these recommended
daily allowances have been shown to
prevent classic syndromes such as
scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency. Because
these are simply guidelines, he says, it
is unclear whether the doses would be
optimum for everyone.

As for the usefulness of the new
guidelines, LaForte commented, "If
you eat what the report tells you to eat,
you'll probably do better than you are
now. But none of the healthy eating
will do you any good if you don't
increase your physical activity. This, as
far as I am concerned, was the USDA's
[US Department of Agriculture's] best
recommendation."